Infrastructure and Pro-Poor Growth

Infrastructure and rural services are central to agricultural development. In order to grow the government need to improved infrastructure and rural services not only expand opportunities for growth, but also help ensure that such growth is more diffused and equitable. Many third nation countries, especially in Cambodia, still have woefully inadequate levels of rural infrastructure and high population growth in rural area, human capital, and this is a major constraint to their development.

Despite this importance, many governments and donors have slashed their levels of investment in rural areas in recent years. It is clear that a “business as usual” approach cannot reach the target of halving the number of poor by 2015. This has shown that the trend is misguided; many public investments in rural areas give very favorable rates of return in Asia. Moreover, they also make important contributions to reducing rural poverty. Investments in rural roads, together with agricultural research and rural education, are some of the best win-win strategy, contributing the most to both agricultural growth and rural poverty eradication. It has also been shown that the targeting more investments towards less-favored areas could also be a win-win strategy in many countries, particularly those have already invested heavily in their higher potential areas. Moreover, feeder roads or low-cost rural roads give higher returns than higher-level roads in terms of agricultural production and poverty reduction.

The Royal Governments of Cambodia and partners countries need to increase their investment in rural infrastructure, technology and human capital in order to link between rural areas to urban areas. These investments are essential for the successful agricultural transformation of these countries.  

Relate Article: How Infrastructure Reduce Rural Poverty in Cambodia